Civil law is a body of rules that defines and protects private rights, offers legal remedies that may be sought in a dispute, and covers areas of law such as contracts, torts, property and family law. It is distinguished from criminal, military or political law.
The 4 Types of Civil Law
In most countries, civil law is traced back to the emperor's code of laws compiled by Justinian around 600 C.E. Over many centuries, authoritative legal codes with roots in this code then developed in different nations, forming civil law systems that are similar in most respects but differ slightly in important ways.
The 4 Types of Civil Cases
In civil cases, individuals bring complaints against another person or entity in order to obtain redress for a perceived wrong. These may be based on money disputes, breach of contract, personal injury, or property damage. Most lawsuits are filed in state courts, and about 90 percent of them are settled before trial.
Breach of contract claims involve situations where people fail to perform some term of a contract, whether it is written or oral. The terms of the contract may include payment, delivery of goods or services, performance of work or other obligations.
The parties to a contract must act in accordance with the law, and it is important that they understand what they are signing on to when entering into a contractual agreement. This is why civil law is often a much more prescriptive system than common law systems.
A key difference between civil and criminal cases is that, in civil law, the plaintiff only needs to convince the court by a "preponderance of the evidence" that the defendant is liable for the harm he or she has suffered. In criminal law, however, the state must prove that a defendant is guilty of a crime "beyond a reasonable doubt" in order for a conviction to be issued.
Similarly, in civil law cases, there are often "discovery" procedures in place that require both parties to provide each other with information about the case, such as identity of witnesses and copies of documents. The purpose of discovery is to help the court prepare for trial by requiring the litigants to assemble their evidence and prepare to call witnesses.
Class action suits are similar to tort cases, but the plaintiff in these suits is a group or class of people who have all suffered injuries from the same situation or product. These types of cases can be brought against a company when a faulty product or a dangerous chemical causes an injury to multiple people.
Complaints against the city or federal government are also generally tried as civil cases when a citizen complains that the government has done something that has caused harm to the citizens of the city or country. The city or federal government may be forced to settle these types of cases out of court, but if they refuse, these cases are usually tried as civil cases.